Wild
by writingvibes
Summary: They knew it was going to be a hard thing to do- escape the Bureau, find a random city, change their identities, and try to live a normal life. None of them knew it would involve trying to survive in the pure wilderness of the forest on the mountain surrounding the Bureau. None of them knew until they couldn't turn back. Post-Allegiant. **IF TRIS NEVER DIED** Please give it a read!
1. Back at the Bureau

**Hello, reader! I was super duper crushed with Tris's death in Allegiant and suddenly my whole life didn't make sense anymore. Okay, maybe it wasn't that dramatic. But really. You don't even understand how long I thought about it when I was supposed to be sleeping.**

 **And I decided- why not create my own ending where Tris** ** _doesn't die_** **? *MINDBLOWN* Tris and Tobias's romance can NOT end just like BAM and David is now my least favorite character. So let's see how this turns out! If you like it, make sure to leave a review and follow along on this new adventure I'm taking on!**

 **—**

 _TOBIAS_

As we enter the isolated security checkpoint, I suddenly feel uneasy. I couldn't spot a single sign of life since we drove out of the city. _Is Tris okay? Did the whole plan work out?_ I think to myself.

"Where is everyone?" Christina is the first to break the silence other than the squeak of our shoes on the perfectly tiled floor and the metallic hum of the air conditioner.

I look around and see Cara turning the corner from one of the halls. Behind her is Tris Prior, _the_ love of my life. A smile shoots up my face as relief floods through my chest.

Cara opens her mouth to say something, but before I hear what she is about to say, I see Tris running towards me, and without hesitation, I open my arms. She leaps into them and wraps her own arms around my neck, securing her chin on my shoulder, and I bring her into a deep hug. "Tobias," she whispers.

She pulls away and I press my forehead to hers, gazing into her eyes to see just how troubled they are. "What is it?" I ask.

She shakes her head and looks down. "It's just… Caleb." She says softly, "I feel so guilty."

I don't know what to say. I hate Caleb. He was such a coward- he delivered Tris to her execution. I wouldn't have her in my arms if it weren't for Peter, and, well, I hate him, too.

"Don't worry," I say, and her eyes slowly come up to meet mine. "I'll help you get through. I'm just so glad you're alive."

"Yeah," she says. I thread my fingers through hers and she clutches my hand tightly, and I lead her to where the rest of the group is- where a very confused Cara is staring at Peter like he just grew another ear.

Christina, laughing so hard she has to grab Cara's shoulders for support, stumbles over to us. "Tris!" She says.

"Hey Christina," Tris says with a grin, and I leave them to their little reunion.

"How are you making out with Peter?" I say as I walk to Cara, "Like this new version of him?"

Peter glances around, his innocent eyes filling with curiosity. He glances at us and points to his chest questioningly.

I roll my eyes. "Yes, that's you. Your name is Peter."

Cara still doesn't seem to believe the change, and she keeps staring at him. Peter holds her gaze steadily, then scrunches his eyebrows together as if he has no idea what is wrong. Cara then directs her gaze to me.

"What is…" She considers this for a moment.

"Memory serum," I answer simply.

Then I feel Tris's arms slide around my waist and I gently hold her hands there.

"So, what are we waiting for?" says Christina, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry. Let's get something to eat."

…

"Come on guys. Who wants to go back to the dorm?" Christina says.

After everyone leaves, I stay alone with Tris in the cafeteria. I can tell she is grieving for her brother, but I feel nothing at all.

"I let him do it," She whispers, "I let him die. He ran right in. I didn't even get to say goodbye—" A single tear wriggles its way out of her eye, and I move in closer and brush it away with my fingertips.

"Shh," I murmur.

She shakes her head and sniffs. "I don't have any family now- I… I don't know what to—"

I wrap my arms around her and hold her fiercely. "No, Tris," I say, "You have me. Remember what I told you after the simulation attack? I will be your family now."

She looks up at me, and in her eyes I see fear, I see grief, I see love. I gently touch the tip of my nose to hers, locking our gaze. I make sure to keep mine steady. She sniffs again, cracks a small but what I know is a fake smile, but buries her face in my chest. I let her cry for a while as I stroke her hair behind her ear over and over until she finally looks up at me again.

"Thanks," she mumbles.

I smile, and say, "How about I walk you back to the dorm?"

"Aren't you staying there too?"

"Yeah, but I'm just going to take a walk outside. Not tired." Actually, I am tired, but I need some time to think alone.

Tris whispers, "Be back soon?"

"I will," I promise her.

We get up and she links her hand to mine as we walk down the empty hall in silence. When we arrive at the closed door, I lean her against the wall beside it and cradle her face in my hands. "Don't go hard on yourself, okay?" I say.

Her eyes flutter closed, "I'll try."

So I lean down and bring my mouth to hers, kissing her tenderly. She kisses me back slowly, and I let my hands slide down to her neck, her shoulders, her waist. When I pull away, she has a real smile on her face. "Goodnight, love," I say.

"'Night," she whispers back.

…

My skin has gone cold from the wind by the time I am back at the door of the dorm. I enter the room to see it washed over with moonshine. Every object glows in silver light as I make my way to my bed, plop down, and sigh.

Tris rolls over on her bed to face me, blinking her eyes sleepily. "Hey," she mumbles.

I lean down to give her a quick kiss on her forehead, but she stops me in the position. Her hand moves down from my ear to my cheek, to my neck, and stays there. A smile dances on her lips. She then brings me toward her and whispers, "Stay here."

She shifts away to the other side of her bed and I crawl in. By the time my eyelids are heavy, her head is on my chest, her hand is still on my neck, and I am drifting, drifting, in a place where love is all I feel, where my skin tingles in every place she has ever touched me.

I fall asleep to her peaceful breathing.

 **—**

 **And that's Chapter One! As I said before, I like it when readers leave something behind but that's your choice, no pressure. Anyway, thank you so much for stopping by and reading the beginning of my new story and have an awesome day!**

 **-writingvibes-**


	2. Escape

**Thanks for clicking that Next Chapter button! I'm so happy you decided to keep reading. So I want you all to know this is where the actual story begins to unfold. Enjoy!**

 **—**

When I wake up, dawn is filtering its way through the crack of the curtains. Tris must have rolled over to the other side of the bed somewhere in the middle of the night. I quickly get up to find Christina looking in my direction, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

Immediately, embarrassment flushes over me. "It's not what you think…"

"I know, I know," she smirks.

I walk to the bathroom, splashing my face with cold water. By the time I've changed and come back out, Tris is already awake. She and Christina sit on her bed, talking.

Christina says, "So you two. Taking things seriously, yet?"

A blush creeps up Tris's face, and I can't help but smile to myself. I stride to her and sit down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "I don't know what you two have been talking about but I'm guessing it concerns me." I give Christina a look.

Cara shuffles out of the bathroom, fully changed, her hair wet and face bruised. "We ran out of shampoo." She mutters as she flings a lock of knotted hair behind her shoulder.

I grin. "Well, we're not getting any more until the people of the Bureau remember we're even here."

"Yeah. About that," she says, "I think we should all move out of here. I can't stay here any longer. We should take a truck and drive back to the city—Chicago—and just live there."

Christina rolls her eyes. "Just because we ran out of shampoo?"

Tris lets out a laugh, then her expression becomes serious. "Actually, I think we need to start living in the _real_ world," she says, "you know, like being more than just a few people from an experiment. Try it all out. Like, have a new life."

I say, "Yes, I agree with that." She flashes me a smile.

"That's a point," says Christina.

We begin to form a little plan for what to do for the next few days. Leave unnoticed while we can today, steal some supplies. Somehow find a city to live in. Start a new life.

Simple enough, I guess.

—

None of us have much in our backpacks. A few sets of clothes, toiletries.

Just as we're about to leave, Christina suddenly gasps. "Uriah! We can't just leave him here!"

She has a point there, Uriah can't just be left behind. I quickly speak before anyone starts to panic. "How about we split up?"

Everyone's eyes train on me, and I feel my instructor self coming back to life. "Christina, you and, uh, Tris. You two can go see Uriah, say goodbye. Peter and Cara, you come with me. We're getting some food and water from the kitchen." I say, "Let's meet up at the front circle in ten minutes. Be careful."

Somehow I have a gut feeling I shouldn't let Tris away from me, but I push that aside as everyone nods. Tris and Christina take off.

"Okay," says Cara, "Let's go get us some food."

We quietly make our way to the kitchen in a quick jog. The door is closed, but I look around and make a dash for it. It opens easily. I peek inside to find it empty of people. Motioning for the others to follow, I slip inside.

It's a large room that somehow brings up a sort of depressing feeling because everything, everything in this room is a dirty silver kind of color. The counters are mostly empty with stacks of white plates and trays on metal carts, and a few salt and pepper shakers lie around here and there.

We scramble around, opening drawers and cabinets and refrigerators, to find the whole place wiped clean of any food. I grab a salt shaker and say, "I think we have to go to the food storage."

Cara leads us to a small gray door at the corner of the kitchen labeled PANTRY. I yank it open, surprised to see it unlocked. But the moment I step through, a bell goes off and I know I have set off an alarm.

"Quick, grab something!" I shout over the loud ringing. I snatch up a huge sack of heavy stuff, really whatever could be inside, and make to run. Cara has the sense to consider things and I see her hauling a crate of plastic water bottles toward me. Peter immediately comes to help her, and I am just about to open the door again when I realize it's locked.

I clench my fists in frustration and mutter, "Locks automatically. We have to find some way out." Just as those words leave my mouth, the door flings open and two men dressed in police uniforms trample in. They are both tall, lean, and each hold a pistol in their hands, in fire-ready positions.

I whisper to Peter, "Still remember how to fight?"

Without warning, he lunges forward and knocks the police officer on the left onto the floor. The other officer clicks the barrel of his gun in place and is about to shoot when I come and punch him, hard in the jaw.

He stumbles backward, his eyes glaring, then steadies and brings his arm forward, falling on top of me, and pinning me to the cold floor. I struggle against his grasp and connect my fist with his right eye. He swears, loudly, and I see him grappling for the handcuffs on his belt, but I kick him in the groin and he falls backward with a gasp.

I wrench his wrist toward me and grab the pistol in his hand, pointing it to his forehead. He stills immediately.

I dare to take a quick look at how Peter is doing with the other officer. He has the man on the ground, knocked unconscious with what I'm pretty sure is a long rifle in Cara's arm. Probably slammed his head with it.

"Take their packs!" I order, and Peter starts to rip off the backpack from the officer he fought while Cara easily slips off the pack from the one under my gunpoint. The officer groans.

I reach my hand out and grab the big sack I had earlier, not keeping my eyes off the officer beneath me. "Ready?" I call out to the others.

I see Peter nod his head fast and I holler, "Run!" before I pull the trigger and shoot the officer right on the head. We all sprint together, out of the door that was held open by the officer's body.

The white hallways fly past us as we hurtle toward the direction the main doors are. Cara has both packs on her back, Peter is holding onto the crate of water, and I am squeezing my fingers over the top of the sack with one hand and holding two pistols with the other when the gunshot stops us all in our tracks.

Peter falls, the crate splits open, and Cara holds the rifle with both arms as if ready to knock some other person out with it again. I quickly fasten one pistol to my belt and start shooting at the guards running toward us with the other.

 _Bam, bam bam._ They fall to the floor one by one before they are even able to aim. Well, thankfully I am from Dauntless. Once everyone is down, I turn to Cara.

"He's dead." She says as she glances at Peter, "No point in staying. Let's go."

I nod, grabbing the sack and three bottles of water from the broken crate, and stumble through the hallway with Cara at my heels.

 **—**

 **Hey, reader! I hope you all liked the action in this chapter. I'm not much of an action writer so please tell me how you feel about the writing!**

 **Anyway, I'm really glad that you decided to read my second chapter. If you actually just read two chapters of my work, I'm really grateful for your time. Really.**

 **Have a great day!**

 **-writingvibes-**


	3. Outside

**I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE STILL READING! THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

—

We fly through the halls unseen, and even if anyone did see us, they didn't stop us. I press myself against the corner of a wall and turn my head to see if anyone is blocking the door. Nope.

"Hey," whispers a small voice very close to me. I jump and turn around to see that it is Tris, and I feel relief to see that she's okay. She doesn't look into my eyes, but I can tell she's been crying. Uriah.

She grabs the water bottles my fingers have gotten stiff trying to hold onto. "The whole front circle is heavily guarded with patrols." She says.

"Are they armed?" I ask.

She nods. "They're literally interviewing everyone who tries to pass through. We won't be able to make it out." There's this kind of sadness in her voice.

I twist my mouth in a frown. We can't? No, no way. "You sure there's no other way out?"

Tris thinks for a moment. "In Uriah's room, there's a window," she says slowly, "And it's a view to the back of the Bureau. I mean, I didn't see any patrols and I doubt there are any. Maybe we can make it out from the back… And go around."

I know what is on the back. The Bureau sits on the foot of Mount Glades, a highly forested mountain. It's wild with creatures, and extremely massive. It could take someone a full two weeks of hiking to get over it, not to mention the fact that aggressive wild animals and food shortages and dehydration could slow them down.

I say, "We can try to go from the back."

I see the baffled expression on her face and grin. "Get Cara and Christina. I have a plan."

"What about Peter?" She says.

"Dead." I say, "We were pursued from the kitchen." I lift the heavy sack, "After stealing a bit of food."

Tris nods, her eyes blank, and summons the others with her hand. Soon, Cara and Christina come beside us.

"So," says Tris, "What is this plan of yours?"

—

We creep along the walls until we reach the fortunately unguarded back door. As Tris said, there are no patrols outside. I take caution to see that no one is following us, and soon we are all outside the Bureau's white white walls.

The warm breeze brings a tingling feeling to my skin. The whole back of the Bureau is greenery: plants and trees and bushes. I guess it's all wild.

"C'mon," I say, "Let's sneak around."

I hand one of the pistols to Tris, and Cara gives the rifle to Christina. We press ourselves along the building and inch forward.

Very soon, we hear the loud clank of footsteps coming toward us. Patrol. I take a peek around the corner and see fully armed soldiers striding our way. Yep, there's no way we can ambush them. And besides, they must have waves and waves of reinforcements just in case things like this happen.

"Let's get out of here," I hiss.

We run into the brush and crouch down, hiding ourselves in the bushes. My mind races; soon, people are going to go all over the place looking for us, the ones that murdered their men. We have to leave here soon, and if what Tris says is right about the many patrols, there's no way we're going to get out from the front. Even if we go around the building from here.

That only leaves one more option.

"Okay, change of plan," I whisper, "We're gonna climb over this mountain."

Silence follows. After a moment, Cara is the first to speak. "No way."

I frown. "Why not? It's not as if we're going to be pursued from there. And we can find a city after we're over it. Who knows what's on the other side?"

"Yeah and how exactly are we going to get over?" She says.

"We climb, like I said."

Tris nods, "Actually, I think that's the best plan we've got."

Cara shoots her a look of disgust. "No, there has to be another way."

"Exactly what I've been thinking this whole time," I say, "But we don't have much time. It's either this or prison."

"Well, that's kind of where we belong." Mutters Christina.

I widen my eyes in shock. "Christina!"

"Okay, okay. I'm really sorry. But we have to stop arguing or we're never getting out of here."

Tris says, "I stand with Tobias's plan."

"Yeah, me too," says Christina.

Cara huffs. "Fine then."

I give a nod of satisfaction. "Let's go."

—

The first signs of hunger start after we've been hiking for about an hour.

"We've got no food except whatever's in my sack over here, and anything that might be in the officer's packs," I say.

Christina says, "Let's rest and see what we have."

We all sit down and open a bottle of water each, leaving one bottle left. Christina zips open the first officer's pack. We all want food.

The first item comes out. A knife. It's a really fine one, long with a sharp blade and glinting in the sunlight. Then, a roll of gauze wrap. A small bottle of hand sanitizer. A lighter, probably for smoking. And a turkey lettuce tomato sandwich.

The second officer's pack has the exact same things except for the lighter. Finally, we have the sack to open. I carefully untie the knot at the top and the bag falls open.

We all stare in utter shock.

The whole sack is filled with pieces of dried mango. They are all wrapped individually in plastic wrap, and there are about a million small packs of the fruit. Dried mango. _Dried mango._

Cara, again, is the first one to speak. "So we're going to live on dried mango for the rest of this trip."

"And two sandwiches," I add weakly.

She puts her forehead into her palm and just sits there. Nobody speaks for a long time as we all accept the fact that we are never going to make it. Not if all we have to eat every day after a long hike is _dried mango_.

Then, I hear a very faint rustling. I slowly turn my head behind me to see a small spring rabbit making its way on the ground. I gasp as the thought hits me.

"No," I manage to say as the rabbit leaps away, "We also have meat to live on."

Christina turns to me in confusion. Then, she realizes. We don't only have what we brought. With our guns, we can always learn how to hunt. Maybe even bring down creatures bigger than rabbits—like a deer!—and live on that wild meat.

A new flicker of hope rises.

—

We hike for a long time, plopping pieces of dried mango in our mouths, until suddenly Tris trips on a root and falls with a squeal. After we help her up, I realize this is a great place to make camp for the night. It's a small clearing of solid dirt with a few sprouts of grass here and there, surrounded by clumps of bushes and a large oak.

"Let's make dinner," Christina says, and we all nod.

Cara and Tris go around the oak for branches while I make a circular shape with rocks in the middle of the clearing. We add the wood to the middle so the fire won't go out of control and carefully light up the wood with the lighter.

As night falls, it gets chillier and we all huddle together, eating more mango and half a sandwich each. All of our water bottles are empty by the time it's dark.

I quickly realize that nights here in the wild are going to be very cold and very dark. The fire illuminates Tris's face as she leans herself on my shoulder.

We take out our clothes from our individual packs and put on extra layers. We also add our jackets as blankets to cover us up from the cold, biting wind. As the fire goes out, the smoldering coals remind me of the Choosing Ceremony, when I had let my blood spill on the coals to escape my father.

I think of the whole mess we are in. We are homeless. As far as anybody from anywhere knows, we are all dead. We are on a mountain. We are in the middle of the woods. We have no idea where we are going. We have no more water. We might not make it.

Tris snuggles herself into my chest. I kiss her on the forehead and she looks up at me with a smile that I barely see in the dark and drifts off to sleep.

I lie in the darkness, thinking to myself, when Tris suddenly jerks up and whimpers. Nightmares. I hold her tight and her eyes meet mine.

"What's wrong?" I whisper.

She shakes her head, looks down, then pulls me in and kisses me full on the mouth. I return her kisses with the same hunger, and soon we are just under our jackets/blankets, kissing quietly. I drag my hands under her shirt, feeling the warmth of her skin as her lips caress mine, until the hoot of an owl brings us back to our senses; and we both fall asleep in each other's arms.

—

 **Thanks for reading. I would love to know how you think of this story so far!**

 **-wrtingvibes-**


	4. Hunting

**I am glad you are still reading! And thank you for the faves/follows/reviews! I really do appreciate them. Enjoy this chapter :)**

 **—**

Waking up to chilled bones and growling stomachs is certainly not something any of us are used to. When I first open my eyes, my fingers and toes are so frigid and numb I can barely get them to move.

"We're going to learn to hunt today," I declare once we are all awake and nibbling on dried mango.

"Unless we all freeze to death," Cara mutters quietly.

I throw out the guns— the first pistol for me, the second one for Tris, and the rifle for Christina. Cara doesn't know how to shoot, so we leave her to make some everyday items using the natural material as we set off into the wood.

"I think it should be kind of like shooting people," says Christina as we tread in the fallen leaves, "But I'm pretty sure the animals are dumber."

I notice we are walking quite loudly, so I order everyone to stop. I listen around. Then, I hear a small rustle much like the one I heard yesterday. A very plump rabbit strolls into view. Putting a finger to my lips, I aim the pistol at its chest.

But I realize we had a mistake. Just the sound of the barrel clicking into place as I prepare to let the bullet fly makes the rabbit's ears immediately shoot up. Before I can react, it's tumbling back into the bush. I shoot twice, randomly into the leaves, but I have no idea whether I hit it or not.

"Well _that_ worked," says Christina, sarcasm thick in her voice.

I let out my breath and walk toward the bush. I push the leaves out of the way to see tuffs of fur snagged on the branches, some bloody, and one bullet snug in the nook between two pebbles. Yep, just as I suspected. It managed to get away.

I pick up the bullet, hearing footsteps behind me, and Tris's chin leans on my neck. I turn around to face her.

"Any luck?" She asks.

I shake my head. "Where are we supposed to shoot them?"

She shrugs. "No idea."

"You think Cara might know fatality points of a rabbit's body, given that she's from Erudite?"

"It's worth a shot," she replies. _Literally._

So we make our way back to camp. Cara looks up, then rolls her eyes as if she had expected us to come to her for help all along.

"We were wondering if you could give us a lesson on body parts of a rabbit?"

She jerks back in surprise. " _Body parts_?"

I bite back a grin. "Like, where to shoot them."

She physically relaxes. "Come here, students," she teases.

We spend a few minutes poking and prodding at a diagram of a rabbit Cara drew in the dirt. "So," she finishes afterward, "Your best bet is the neck or the eye."

We nod our thanks and set off again. About an hour later, we have exactly two rabbits and a sparrow. The sparrow was pure luck- Tris shot a full wing off of it when it was in flight and it just plummeted to its death, where she collected it with pride.

 _I_ shot both of the rabbits, one in the neck and one right through its nose when I had attempted the eye shot. Shooting small creatures is way harder than I thought it would be. They have enhanced senses and scurry around so quickly you could lose five bullets on just one of them.

Christina refuses to go back when she has nothing to show for, so I offer her one of my rabbits. She bats it away with her head held high, and we practically have to drag her the rest of the way back.

By the time we are back at our temporary camp, the sun has managed to become brighter and we aren't shivering anymore with fumbling fingers rigid in the cold. Cara has made four wooden skewers using a few sticks and the tip of a knife, and they lie around beside a pile of what I am guessing are failed attempts at her "skewer masterpieces". Her face lights up when she sees the meat.

"I've been starving the whole time with only dried mango to help, and I really need water!" She complains.

I've broken down into a sweat on the way back, and my tongue feels parched. She's right— we do need water, but we haven't got any.

"We have to move camp soon," I say, "Somewhere where there's fresh water."

Cara and Christina experiment on skinning and gutting the rabbits while Tris and I pluck the beautiful brown and white feathers off the sparrow.

"We should save these feathers," says Tris as I pinch off a wing-feather, "They really are something."

I smile and tuck a few white ones behind her ear. We continue to strip the bird naked of its colors, revealing the raw pink body underneath. It's quite tiny, enough only for one person's meal. I think about slicing the head off, but both knives are with the other girls.

"Want to check on how they're doing?" I ask.

We walk hand in hand to where Christina is making a face at the pink rabbit intestines in her hands. Cara doesn't seem to have a problem. She has a full piece of furry rabbit skin at her side and guts and everything gross, and she is examining an eyeball when we sit down beside them.

"Hey, Nose, whatcha got there?" I give her shoulder a nudge.

She glares at me. "Don't call me that. I had to dig pieces of bullet out of this rabbit's neck here, and now its neck is inedible."

I shrug, looking at the bare carcass of the rabbit. "Let's get cooking." I poke a skewer through the sparrow and Tris does the same with one rabbit. Christina is still frowning at the other one, the bleeding body in her hands. Tris laughs and goes to talk to her as I start a fire. The smoke makes my throat itch, and for the second time, I think of water.

By the time all three animals are done roasting, I can't bear it anymore. I need water, and the others don't argue when I suggest we go further into the forest. There must be a stream somewhere, or the animals wouldn't be able to drink, either.

I take a rabbit leg and munch on it as we go. Tris grins as she takes the other, and Christina grabs the sparrow. Cara is left with the body of the rabbit, but she doesn't mind.

We trudge on, but there is no sign of water anywhere. I know we will have to break for camp soon because it is getting chillier and darker. We are all panting heavily.

I feel lightheaded from dehydration. To stop myself from falling I lean onto a tree and nobody says a word as Cara collapses to the ground. The dryness in my mouth won't go away, and I hardly have any saliva to comfort my peeling throat.

My legs won't let me stand without the tree's help, but I clutch its bark and stumble around, watching the ground spin beneath my feet. Finally, I feel Tris's hand on my shoulder and I remind myself I have a mission.

 _What does water sound like?_ I question myself. _Rushing. Flowing. Stream._

I regain my balance and tap Christina. She grunts as she stands up, but Cara won't. She won't stand. I squeeze my eyes shut as I feel like falling again, then open them and haul her up. She groans, but doesn't resist.

I move almost blindly through the trees when suddenly, I hear it. For a moment, all my senses come rushing toward me, but they falter again a second later. I run toward the sound, afraid that if I am too slow, it will flow away and I will be left with nothing. I run until I feel the tug of the current pulling at my ankles, then I bend down and let the cold, cold water rush into my mouth, soothing my tongue and throat. I let it slide in, drinking in as much as I can hold.

Someone drags me out, and I thrash around, needing more water, but I realize I shouldn't drink too much at once or I might get sick. So I sit down, slumping into the cool mud. I almost immediately lose consciousness.

I don't wake up until it is well into the night when I am beside a glowing fire burning itself out.

 **—**


	5. Problems

**Yay! Thank you so much for fave/following! I'm so so so happy people are reading this, even if only a few :)**

* * *

While I had been unconscious, Cara had woven a few reeds from the pond together and managed to make a small bowl. We fill it up with stream water and set it carefully over the fire. Apparently, the water may not be clean, so we have to boil it. I don't really see the point in that, but if fancy Erudite-Cara thinks it's important, I'm not the one to argue.

I sit down on the rock we made camp beside, swishing my fingers in the cool mud closer to the water. It's a beautiful day, really, if only the wind were just a little bit less harsh on us. It sure is cold. Thin rays of sunlight filter through the green leaves above us, and somewhere far away I hear a bird call out two notes.

Cara hums as she adjusts the bowl every now and then, making sure the hungry flames don't fire up the bowl. Earlier, Christina had insisted she have a bath a bit lower downstream, so Tris went with her. I fiddle with a pouch of the stupid dried mango. It's almost all we've been eating, other than the meat.

"So, how long is this trip supposed to be?" Cara asks.

I take a moment to consider. Mount Glades is a very tall mountain, part of the Western Mountain range. It should take a full week to get to the top, then another week to go down, but I would guess that the over-the-top hike usually took longer than just two weeks. "I'd say we've got another twenty days or so."

She groans. "I can't stand freezing in the morning and boiling in the afternoon just to freeze at night again for _that_ long."

We hear a rustle of leaves from behind so I turn around. Tris and Christina, both with dripping wet hair and damp clothes step out. "It's so freaking cold!" exclaims Tris.

I laugh. "Only because you're soaked."

"Whatever."

We fill our bottles, put on our packs, and continue to hike up. The way is steep and rockier than it has been, and I am panting in a very short amount of time. Sensing that the others are also getting tired, I suggest we stop for a rest. Seems like everyone is tired, cold, and discouraged. Great. I'll be the blame. It was my idea, anyway.

"Are you sure there even is an end to this thing?" Christina asks, seeming annoyed.

I shrug. "Of course. We've just got to keep going."

Next to our resting area is a patch of berries. After Cara's close examination, it is deemed edible and by the name of "blackberries". We strip the bush and start plopping the juicy fruit not our mouths. The tartness of them are welcomed, for we have all been very very tired of eating dried mango everyday.

Since we are following where the stream is coming from, we always have a fresh supply of water. The only bad part is we have to wait for a long time for the water to boil and get rid of what Cara calls "bacteria". The outside world is so weird. Thankfully Cara did studying with the other scientists- we wouldn't be alive without her facts.

It is about late afternoon when we stop. The temperature fluctuation has really gotten to us now, and we are all soaked in sweat. Why. Does. It. Get. So. Hot. Then. So. Cold?!

"I'm starving!" Tris says loudly.

"Yeah, let's go hunting." I say.

Cara plops down on the riverbank rocks. "I'll be right here boiling the water."

"All right," says Tris, "C'mon, Tobias and Christina. Let's go."

We tread as quietly as we can through the woods. I've learned that you must be quiet, or the rabbits will hear you. A breeze flows past us. The squirrels are harder to catch. It seems they can sense us all the time. Maybe we should ask Cara about that.

Suddenly, Tris collapses. I jolt back, immediately around her. "What's the matter?"

She doesn't answer me. Instead, she makes this whole gagging movement, and vomits all over the leaves. I take a step back, then quickly come back to her. Beside me, Christina is looking a little green. I also don't feel that well. Something about my stomach...

Soon, we are all throwing up. The air stinks of the acre stench, but I couldn't care less because I feel so, so sick. With a jerk of my head, I let out the last bit of vomit, then suddenly I feel fine. Christina stops shortly after that, and so does Tris. My mouth still stinks, and I wonder, _what the hell was that about?_

"What was that?" Christina asks, mirroring my thoughts.

Tris mutters something unintelligible. She clears her throat, then says, "Probably the berries."

It strikes me then. Of course. The berries.

We quickly turn back.

Cara looks like she had just experienced the same strange sensation we did just a few moments ago. "Yeah, I know, it was the berries." she says.

I think of the question I wanted to ask her earlier. "Why do the squirrels always know we're there?"

Cara looks at me strangely. "They can smell you in the air. Your scent."

"Oh."

"Well, we're not having more of those blackberries, Cara." says Christina, "That retching felt horrible."

"Yeah, nope."

We hike well into the night. I am shuddering from cold by the time we have set camp up, and am glad for the heat the water lets out from our bottles. Dinner is dried mango and a bushel of wild leaves Cara called "lettuce", though I was quite hesitant with trying it after the blackberries.

"We really ought to get blankets, or some sort of thing to cover us up at night. I don't like to wake up numb from the freaking freezing air." says Tris.

I am really tired, so I just mumble, "Yeah."

I guess I never would have thought of all these consequences that come with hiking in the wild, wild, _wild_.

Especially not the dried mango part. But we have nothing else to eat. And I'm _starving_.

* * *

 **Guys I'm sorry that this chapter was short and sorta rushed. I just wanted you all to know I'm still alive and writing. Yeah.**

 **Thanks for the love, guys! It really means a lot to me.**

 **Love you all :)**

 **-writingvibes-**


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